Northern Song Dynasty Imperial Tombs is located in Gongyi City. Seven emperors in the North Song Dynasty were buried here, together with nearly 1,000 mausoleums in this tomb area.
The upper palace is to the north of stone sculptures. A long square wall, about 1000 meters long surrounded the upper palace. There is an entrance in each side of the wall and a small platform in each corner of the wall. In the middle of the upper palace lies a pyramid-like platform, under which is the underground palace. The lower palace, serving as a dining-room should be to the north or northwest of the upper palace but now no buildings are left. Empresses' tombs are same in style but in a minor size and with less stone sculptures.
There are hundreds of stone sculptures in the tomb area. Generally, each imperial tomb has 23 pairs of stone sculptures on the stone passage. Outside each entrance of the four in the long wall sit a pair of lions while inside stand a pair of servants. Song Dynasty sculptures get rid of the mysterious tradition, but emphasize the common life of that time; therefore, they have distinguished artistic and historical value.
Opening hours: 8:00-11:30, 14:00-17:30
Recommend visiting time: One day
Ticket: Free
Type: culture
Location: No.84, Dufu Road, Gongyi District, Zhengzhou City, Henan Province
Transportation: You can take Bus No.8, 25, 49, 116, 130, 135, and get off at Ganlu Temple (Jiangbin Hospital) Station.